Gems Of Fate
by Tinestram
Summary: 5 years after Li Mu Bai's death, his legacy lives on...
1. Old Friends

Bo saw him walk into the compound. He saw the ornate sword hanging from the man's sash, a sharp contrast to his simple robes. He noticed the slow, relaxed, yet intently aware walk characteristic of the Wudan warriors. And when Bo looked at this man's face, he saw an expression that he recognized from the circus tigers; a barely contained animal, feigning tameness that threatened to disappear in a flash the first moment he was poorly handled. 

"I'd best be careful with this one," Bo thought. 

At Bo's approach, the stranger looked at him, seemingly noticing him for the first time. Bo pursed his lips slightly. "He thinks I am a mere underling," Bo thought, "well... let him think that, if he wants." 

"May I help you, my lord?" Bo asked. 

The stranger inclined his head slightly. "Yes," he said, smiling politely, "would you please inform Mistress Yu that Master Lo wishes an audience with her?" 

"MASTER LO?" Bo sputtered, eyes widening. For a second, he wasn't sure whether he should apologize for the outburst, or run screaming. He settled for the middle ground. "Y-yes, Master Lo," he stammered, backing away, "right away!" 

As Bo disappeared into the training hall, Lo chuckled to himself. If he had once thought that his Dark Cloud persona inspired fear, it was nothing compared to the reputation of Master Lo, Wudan warrior. Lo shook his head and smiled ruefully. Ironically, Master Lo was responsible for much less bloodshed than Dark Cloud had been. "Never underestimate the power of subtlety," Lo remarked to himself. 

Moments later, Bo reappeared, looking more than a little apprehensive. "M-mistress Yu will see you now," he said, and lead him into the hall. 

* * *

"My thanks for accepting an audience at such short notice," Lo said, "especially so late in the evening." 

"Don't be silly, Lo; the sun hasn't even set yet. Besides, I couldn't turn you away at any time, day or night, you know that." Shu Lien motioned towards a chair across from her as she sat down. "Please, sit." 

Lo sat gingerly, as though the chair might break under his weight. 

"I'm surprised you even remember me, after all these years," Lo said, smiling slightly. 

Shu Lien laughed. "Even had I forgotten our meeting 5 years ago," she said, "I would know you by sheer reputation. The local children pretend to be you in their games, you know." 

"I'm sure they pretend to be who they've heard me to be," Lo said, "and not who I really am." 

"Indeed." Shu Lien paused for a moment, her expression becoming serious. "I heard about Jen," she said quietly, "my condolences." 

Lo merely nodded. 

"You didn't just come here to reminisce about old friends, did you?" Shu Lien asked. 

Lo shook his head solemnly. "I wish it were so, Shu Lien, but I'm afraid I have some... disturbing news." Lo paused, looking at the floor as if he wanted it to open up and swallow him. He sighed, then looked up at Shu Lien. "It's about Li Mu Bai." 

Shu Lien inhaled sharply. Li Mu Bai had been dead for five years, his body and the sword Green Destiny buried together on Wudan Mountain. What more could possibly be done to this poor man? 

"The Green Destiny has been stolen, hasn't it?" she asked, her brow furrowing in growing anger. 

"I'm afraid it is worse than that, Shu Lien," Lo said, then reached across the table and took Shu Lien's hand in his. It was a strong, yet gentle grip that was meant to be reassuring, but merely served to make Shu Lien tense even further, pulling her hand away before Lo could continue. 

"Several weeks ago, close to the midnight hour, the sentinel saw somebody leaving the compound. When he confonted the person, they attacked him... with the Green Destiny." Lo winced inwardly as Shu Lien's jaw tighten, and continued quickly. "He did not get a good look at the assailant's face before he was defeated and the assailant escaped, but he said that he looked remarkably like Li Mu Bai." 

Shu Lien covered her mouth with a trembling hand. "The grave...?" she asked in a choked voice. 

Lo wished desperately that he did not have to answer that question, even though he knew he must. He crossed his arms, looked down once more, and whispered a single word. 

"Empty." 

* * *

_Standard disclaimer: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and all of its characters are used without permission, and are copyright somebody else, probably Sony Pictures Classics._


	2. Journey

Shu Lien stood up and walked slowly to the window, putting her hands behind her back in a serene-looking pose. Lo knew better. 

"Normally, the Wudani would not even have bothered you with such news..." Lo started. 

"Then WHY?!" Shu Lien cut him off, spinning around to face him. She looked so full of rage at that instant that Lo had to resist the urge to move into a defensive stance. 

"Believe me when I say I did not want to tell you this," Lo said in soothing tones. "After all you have done for me and Jen, the last thing I want to do is hurt you." 

Shu Lien stood taught for a moment, then sighed and relaxed slightly. "Please accept my apologies, Lo; I find this news quite upsetting, but I should not take it out on you." 

"When the Wudani elders told us that they would be sending somebody to speak to you on the matter, I volunteered," Lo explained as Shu Lien moved back to her chair and sat down. "I did not want you to hear about this from a complete stranger." 

"That my old friend has become some sort of shade?" Shu Lien asked. Lo opened his mouth to reply, but Shu Lien held up a hand before he could continue. "Please don't misunderstand me; I truly appreciate the sentiment, but I still don't understand why I needed to hear about this at all. Are the elders afraid that Li Mu Bai's ghost would come and kill me?" 

"That is part of it, yes... but more to the point, the elders have many questions and precious few answers. Right now, the only things they can be certain of are that Li Mu Bai and the Green Destiny are no longer buried on Wudan Mountain. Everything else is a mystery. The elders are not fond of this kind of mystery." 

Shu Lien nodded knowingly. "And they are hoping that I might be able to provide a few clues?" she asked rhetorically. "The only things I can say for sure are that Li Mu Bai, shade or otherwise, would never seek to harm me... and if he did, I would have been dead long before you arrived." 

"I, too, had thought as much..." Lo said, "but as I have been charged with your protection until the mystery has been solved, I must at least be prepared for the worst." Shu Lien's eyebrows arched slightly at this. "But there is more to it that that," Lo said, preventing Shu Lien from cutting in. "The elders believe you have more important information that you may not even be aware of. How much of the history of the Green Destiny do you know?" 

Shu Lien blinked, a little surprised by the question. "Well, I suppose I know the same things we all heard as children. About 500 years ago, a greedy lord commissioned the best swordsman in the land to make him a sword that could not be broken, and paid him an exhorbitant sum to do it. The swordsman took a year to make the sword, and when the lord saw it, he was so impressed that he killed the swordsman, so that no others like it could possibly be made. The legend says that the spirit of the swordsman was imbued in the sword at the moment of his death. The spirit in the sword then drove the lord insane, after which he killed his family, then himself. It's also been said that only the Wudan warriors have the serenity necessary to keep the sword's spirit quelled. But this is only a legend... surely the elders don't think that Li Mu Bai's body has been... possessed... by the Green Destiny?" 

Lo shook his head. "Not quite. The elders believe that the spirit resided not in the sword itself, but rather in the five rubies that once adorned its hilt. They also believe that Li Mu Bai removed the rubies himself before he gave it to Sir Te, so that none might fall under its spell if it fell into the wrong hands." He smirked ruefully. "Given the subsequent events, I'd say he made the right decision, even if the Green Destiny did seem to bewitch people all on its own." 

"Indeed," Shu Lien said absently, fingering something at her neckline. "And what did he do with the rubies?" 

Lo looked at Shu Lien appraisingly, but couldn't gauge her far-off look. Shrugging, he answered, "We're not sure. The elders think that perhaps he spread them out, giving one to each of several people he trusted, or hiding them somewhere. They think that perhaps somebody has tracked them down and brought them together with the sword, and who knows what would happen then? This is where you come in. It's no secret that you knew him better than anybody. The elders are hoping that if you can locate where the rubies were supposed to be, we can find out who or what is responsible for all this." 

"Well," Shu Lien said, reaching behind her neck and unclasping her necklace, "I know where at least one of them are." 

Shu Lien held out her hand for Lo to see its contents. There, affixed to the simple pendant of Shu Lien's necklace, was a single, perfect ruby. 

* * *

Bo sat on the bed next to where May was suckling their four-month old boy. May looked at him, but he did not look back. 

"You're leaving again, aren't you?" May asked. 

Bo nodded. "Mistress Yu says it may be dangerous." 

"It's ALWAYS dangerous," May said in exasperation. "And every time you go, I keep seeing you ending up the same way my father did... with a blade in your skull. It's horrible." 

"I can stay," Bo said, looking up. "Mistress Yu said I could stay, if I wanted." 

May smiled sadly. "No... Mistress Yu needs you to protect her. You're the best she has. Besides, I know you wouldn't be happy here all the time, with no excitement. How long will you be gone?" 

Bo shrugged. "She doesn't know how long it will take. Three months, three years..." he trailed off. "I don't want to be away from you for three years," he said quietly. 

May put the sleeping baby in his basinet, then put her arm around Bo. "Well... if it takes longer than six months... could you come back to me then?" 

Bo considered this for a moment. "Yes," he finally said, "I suppose I could do that." 

"You silly man," May said, laughing. "Come back to me when your job is done. As long as I know you will, I can be patient." 

Bo put his arms around May and kissed her gently. "I'm not the only silly one," he said, smiling, then leaned over and blew out the candle. 

* * *

A/N: I tried tracking down the legend of the Green Destiny before writing this, to no avail, so I'm afraid I had to make it up. I should really read the books, shouldn't I? Ah well, probably best to consider this an A/U story. I'm more interested in the character development than the story hook, anyhow. 

_Standard disclaimer: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and all of its characters are used without permission, and are copyright somebody else, probably Sony Pictures Classics._


End file.
